


Art Galleries are Interesting Places to See Your Local Barista and New Muse

by Greeks vs Geeks (Wonderfullydepressedandlustful)



Series: Jasico fic dump [22]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: ArtCurator!Piper, Barista!Hazel, M/M, StarvingArtist!Jason, Writer!Nico, and get inspired, hazel is a good bro, jason needs to feed himself, piper got connections
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-13
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-06-08 03:28:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6837349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wonderfullydepressedandlustful/pseuds/Greeks%20vs%20Geeks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason needs to get inspired in order to be able to paint a good painting and make his rent. Hazel helps him find the inspiration he needs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Art Galleries are Interesting Places to See Your Local Barista and New Muse

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Artist!Jason sees Nico while doing a landscape sketch in the park and is used to drawing nature and peaceful things, but when he sees Nico he’s inspired and uses him as a muse to draw some dark paintings because of the negative and dark energy around him. He sees Nico again after months and introduces himself.
> 
> Ok, so I took this and kinda ran with it. Includes Barista! Hazel, Writer! Nico, Art Curator! Piper, and Starving Artist! Jason.

“Jason, what is this?”

“My latest attempt to try and feed myself.” Jason mumbled from his faceplant in the sofa. Piper raised an eyebrow at his response but continued to look at the painting critically. Jason refused to watch her this time. After another minute, she sighed. 

"Seriously, this is saying nothing to me. Just like all of the other ones you have shown me in the past month. You may be my friend but you know I can't put just anything in the gallery.” She decided, turning away from the painting. Jason groaned in response. 

Jason groaned in response. “I know, Pipes. But that is what I brought with me.” 

“Well it sucks.” She said bluntly. Jason sat up at that and shot her a half-hearted glare. “Thanks. That’s 2 weeks of my life you are talking about.” He reminded her. The brown eyed, at least they were brown today, girl rolled her eyes.

“Thanks. That’s 2 weeks of my life you are talking about.” He reminded her. The brown eyed, at least they were brown today, girl rolled her eyes.

“Look Jason, I love you like a brother and all, but you know that painting sucks. There are no emotions behind it, it looks dead on the canvas, and the only good thing about it is that the technique used is amazing. But your technique is always amazing. I need a painting with actual substance in order for me to pay you.” She explained.

Jason didn’t respond and plopped down again. He knew everything that she had just told him. He knew that there was no substance in that painting because he wasn’t inspired. He hadn’t been inspired in weeks. But this was kind of a survival matter. He needed to sell a painting in the next 2 weeks or he was going to get kicked out of his apartment. Which just made this meeting even more depressing. Piper stared at the blond hair man laid out on her couch and blew a piece of hair out of her face.

“You didn’t hear this from me, but there is going to be a new art gallery opening up in three months. It has an otherworldly, dark theme into it. The person over the gallery is willing to pay some major cash IF he is moved by the painting and feels like it will work. Paint something for me that fit that and I can pull some strings and get him to view your painting. But it has to be good and actually have some type of emotion behind it.”

“I don’t paint dark or otherworldly Piper. That’s not really my forte.” Jason replied.

“Well your usual forte isn’t your forte right now.” She snarked. “Go out and look for some inspiration. Step out of your comfort zone. You’re a great artist Jason, but you need a muse.”

Jason was quiet for a moment. He really couldn’t argue with that. “…ok so how much is major cash again?”

* * *

 

Jason sighed as he trudged his way into his usual coffee shop. It had been a week of looking for inspiration for the dark gallery and so far nothing. He just couldn’t find anything that made him want to paint. As he walked up to the cashier, he spotted a familiar curly haired barista. She was standing at the end of the counter, on the phone with someone. After a minute, she laughed and said goodbye before catching sight of him.

“Jason! Long time no see!”

“Hey Hazel.” He called back. She stepped up to the counter and gave him a once over.

“You, sir, look dead. How is everything?” Hazel asked, getting his usual order ready. He came at least twice a week for the decent price coffee so she knew what he wanted already. He gave her a weak smile and patted her bag.

“The same. Just trying to find some inspiration for a new painting that I am working on.” Jason answered casually. Hazel raised her eyebrow.

“What kind of inspiration? I know some good places around the city to find a certain mood or image.”

He sighed and leaned in a bit. “Dark and otherworldly.”

The barista gave him a weird look and set his coffee down in front of him. “4.50 please. Dark? That isn’t your usual stuff. You like pretty landscapes and serene stuff.”

“Stepping out of my comfort zone. Which is why I need some extra inspiration.” He explained. “You got a place in mind?” he slid over 5 dollars. She gave him his change and a knowing smirk.

“Go to the park that overlooks the lake with that gazebo in the middle at dusk. You’ll get your inspiration. And maybe something more.”

* * *

 

Jason followed Hazel’s instructions and found a rock that overlooked the lake perfectly. Getting his sketchpad out, he looked around him and was pretty amazed. There was a light fog over the lake that mixed with the fading light of the night sky that did give the place an eerie feel. It was a perfect place to get the otherworldly landscape down. Gripping his pencil, he began to sketch out the scene beneath him. He could probably work this into a good painting if he changed the lighting a bit and added a green tint to the lake. The pencil moved on the paper with ease. This was the first time in a while that the idea of the painting was just coming to him. Maybe Hazel was right. This place was giving him inspiration.

He was so caught up in his head he almost missed the gazebo lights turning on and the boy. Almost. The change in lighting caused Jason to look up and promptly gasp. Sitting in the middle of the gazebo was Jason’s new muse. The boy had to be around Jason’s age, but he had this ageless air around him that made him seem powerful and distant. He was sitting on the bench, staring out at the lake, which just added to the atmosphere. It was almost like he was an-

“Angel.” Jason breathed out before bending back down to change his sketch. He was definitely inspired now. He knew exactly what he was going to paint.

* * *

 

Piper stared at the new canvas with impressment. Jason was seated on her counter, watching her carefully, and ready to hear what she had to say. If this didn’t fit the theme, then he didn’t know what would. This had to be his best work in a while. Finally, she clapped her hands and gave him a smile.

“Thank god. This is great and just what the client is looking for. I’m really surprised you did it.” She exclaimed. Jason gave her a small smile and shrugged

“What can I say? I found my muse.”

Piper raised her eyebrows and looked back at the painting. It was definitely otherworldly and dark, but still held a painfully sorrowful look with the image of an angel rising slowly out of the water. The client was going to love it. “Well, you should keep your muse then. Let me call up the client. We can schedule a meeting right away.”

* * *

 

Jason wandered around the gallery with the same drink in his hand that he got at the beginning of the night. The gallery was being held in an abandoned warehouse that the client, Mr. Hades, had transformed into a proper venue. Jason had already seen a lot of upper-class buyers that usually came to galleries that Piper put together. He was wearing a suit that Piper had picked out for him once they had reached an agreement with the gallery owner. Jason had gotten a good sum of money for his work, with the promise from Mr. Hades that more was coming his way at the end of the gallery. Apparently, he liked the painting enough to put it as one of the highest paintings on the price list.

Sipping his drink lightly, Jason scanned the room he had just enter, turning on his heel at the same time. He had told Piper and Mr. Hades that he was going to go look at the other paintings for a bit, but he should probably get back. As he walked back to the room where his own painting was, he caught sight of a familiar looking person. Following the black shape, he stopped suddenly and sucked in a breath.

It was his muse.

Ok, he was like 95 percent sure it was his muse. He had the same facial features and everything, but was wearing a high-class suit and staring at one of the paintings with curiosity. Jason watched as the boy leaned over to the short, dark-skinned girl standing next to him and whispered something. The girl let out a laugh and Jason immediately recognized her. Walking over, he tapped the girl on the shoulder and grinned when she turned around.

“Didn’t think this was your kind of scene, Hazel.” Jason said. Hazel’s face lit up and she gave him a quick hug.

“Jason! What are you doing here?” she exclaimed. Jason pointed in the general direction of his painting.

“I have a painting on display. What about you? This doesn’t seem like the kind of place a simple barista hangs out at for fun.” He replied playfully.

The boy stepped forward at that. “It is when the simple barista is the daughter of the gallery owner.” He stated simply. Jason finally got a good look at his muse and was blown away. He was even better up close.

“Oh! Jason, I don’t think I’ve introduced you to my brother. This is Nico. Nico, this is Jason. He is the artist that I was telling you about. The one that paints landscapes.” Hazel quickly introduced. The two men shook hands. Jason immediately noticed how small, but weirdly callused Nico’s hands were. Like he was constantly holding a pen or pencil. Nico nodded briefly at Jason, his expression guarded. Jason gave him a smile.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Hazel has mentioned you before at the coffee shop. I didn’t realize that you two were Mr. Hades kids though.” Hazel definitely didn’t mention that she was the daughter of a very wealthy man that collects and displays art. But that wasn’t something that usually comes up in conversation at a coffee shop. Nico snorted softly and stuck his hands in the pockets of his suit jacket.

“We usually don’t.”

There was a weird feeling around those words, but Jason didn’t have enough time to dwell on them before Hazel changed the subject. “Let’s go look at your painting. I’m guessing you found some inspiration after all.”

Jason threw a side glance at Nico as the three of them walked towards the painting. “Yeah, I found that place you were telling me about. It really helped.” Hazel grinned.

“The lake with the gazebo in the middle? Yeah, it always has that otherworldly feeling at dusk.” Nico stiffened at their conversation, but Jason pretended not to notice. They were soon standing in front of Jason’s painting, which had gathered a lot of attention throughout the night. Hazel gazed up in awe, but Nico kept a very neutral expression. Jason wasn’t expecting much from the boy, especially seeing that Nico didn’t even know that he was the inspiration behind the art.

“What’s it called?” Nico asked quietly. Jason immediately responded.

“The Angel’s Melancholy.”

The three was silent for a moment, just taking in the painting and the meaning. After it passed, Nico turned towards Jason. “You said that you got inspiration from a lake with a gazebo.”

“Yes.” Jason wasn’t really sure where this conversation was going, but he could feel that there was some underlying connotation to the question.

“At dusk?”

“Yes.”

“And Hazel told you about it?”

"Yes."

Nico nodded and turned to his sister. “Hey, I am going to go talk to father about some business. I’ll be back.” Hazel gave him a knowing smirk and waved at him. Nico nodded at Jason and walked away, presumably to go find Mr. Hades. Jason stared at the retreating figure of the dark haired boy.

“He’s a writer you know. Like science fiction and murder mysteries, which I still think is an interesting mix to write about.” Hazel said off-handedly. Jason whipped back to the curly haired girl who was smirking at him.

“What?”

She rolled his eyes and gave him a small piece of paper. “Here is his number. He likes to go to bookstores and take walks in the parks and is a sucker for old movies. Oh, and he is probably going to ask father if anyone has bought your painting right now.” Hazel continued. Jason’s eyes widened and he felt a blush creep up his neck.

“Wa-ait, Hazel I don’t-”

“Nico goes to that gazebo every day at dusk to get inspiration for his stories and to relax. From where the angel is in the picture, I say you kind of do. You’re welcome by the way.” Jason stared at the tiny girl in amazement.

“Welcome for what?”

She winked at him. “For finding you a muse.”

**Author's Note:**

> I am fanfiction writing trash and just spent like 4 hours on this and two other fanfictions for completely different fandoms. I am probably going to update a lot of my stories now that I have a ton of time to myself since my classes are mostly done. So yay for updates!


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